The Chino Hills basketball community grieved Wednesday for Nnamdi Okongwu, a member of the boys team that went to the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game in March and a Pac-12 prospect. Okongwu was critically injured in a skateboarding accident Tuesday.

Conflicting reports surfaced as to the player’s condition Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.

A message on the player’s Instagram account was posted early Wednesday evening showing “Nnamdi Michael Okongwu, September 20, 1996 - July 16, 2014,” but that same account had a subsequent post after midnight saying, “Please stop telling nnamdi is dead please just pray for him.”

Three television stations and another print publication cited a school official who had confirmed that the player had passed away.

“He was a big presence as a basketball player and an even bigger presence as a person,” said Chino Hills coach Steve Baik, who was on vacation in Hawaii. “It’s kind of staggering to think about right now.”

According to the Chino Valley Fire District, police and firefighters received a call around 9 a.m. Tuesday about a male patient who was unresponsive on the ground with a head injury at Pipeline Avenue and El Molino Boulevard in Chino Hills.

Okongwu was reportedly on his skateboard when he fell, according to Jodi Miller, spokeswoman with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. Okongwu was provided advanced life support care and then airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. As of Thursday afternoon, Okongwu was still in the Intensive Care Unit.

Baik was out of town and so was assistant coach Don Grant. Another assistant, Mel Simms, found out about the accident from a text his daughter received.

“I feel really sick right now,” Grant said. “I can’t even comprehend how his family is feeling right now. It’s always tough when someone you know passes away, but for it to be a kid? It’s even tougher.”

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The 6-foot-9 center would have been a senior in the fall, He was viewed as a player with raw basketball ability, just beginning to blossom. Among his classmates at Chino Hills High School, he was known as a basketball star.

He was starting to get attention from major Division I schools after the Huskies’ showing of the past season. He had already received a scholarship offer from Loyola Marymount, an NCAA Division I university in Los Angeles.

He was an integral part of Sierra League title and postseason runs. He wasn’t always a starter, but when he wasn’t, he was the first player off the bench for a team that relied heavily on six players.

The honorable mention All-Inland Valley selection helped the Huskies (29-6) to a spot in the Southern Section Open Division championship game, where they lost to nationally ranked No. 1 Mater Dei at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Chino Hills also played in the state portion of the Division I playoffs and reached the South Region championship before losing to Corona Centennial at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.

Wednesday’s news left the local basketball community stunned.

“He was a kid with a great smile and a great personality that stood out,” said Damien coach Matt Dunn, whose Spartans played in the same league. “This is really heartbreaking.”

His teammates echoed those sentiments.

“I used to give him rides to school and he was always cracking jokes. He was definitely a jokester,” said Bishop Mency, a graduated senior already on campus at Rice University. “We all loved being around him.”

Okongwu was also popular with other athletes, according to former baseball coach Kyle Billinglsey, who had Okongwu in class. “Our guys loved him. He had that happy, carefree attitude but he was also very respectful and humble.”

Billinglsey said a candlelight vigil is being planned for July 28 but details have not yet been finalized.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated early Thursday morning. The Bulletin had reported that Nnamdi Okongwu had died Wednesday, based on posts on Okongwu’s Instagram account and comments from school officials. Subsequent information is included in this update.